EXECUTIVE BRIEFCASE
TWILIGHT ZONE TOWER OF TERROR
Opening this week at Disney’s California Adventure.
This might be just the boost California Adventure needs. Cloned from Florida’s Disney World, where it’s been a featured hit, this ride is based on a so-called “lost” episode of Rod Serling’s classic “Twilight Zone” TV series. As the legend goes, the Hollywood Tower Hotel was struck by lightning in 1939, sending five passengers in a service elevator plummeting,into the Twilight Zone, never to be seen again. The eerie outcome sent jittery guests scurrying, closed the hotel and left a haunted edifice for curious thrill-seekers. Taller at 183 feet than the Matterhorn, the Tower of Terror looms ominously, inviting visitors to “drop in if you dare.” When you do, you’re taken through a creaky art deco lobby and library, down to the basement and into a service elevator. At this point you might assume it’s time for just another ride up and drop down. Think again. There are “missing” guests trying to escape the Twilight Zone, making for a wild ride in the elevator shaft that includes a brief, unsettling glimpse of the world you’re leaving behind. The hair-raising trip into oblivion doesn’t end until you experience a dark, 13-story free fall. Special effects and droll black humor add to the fun. But it’s not for the faint of heart. In fact, your heart may need a moment to catch up with your body,that is, if you return at all.
,Sandi Cain
RATING: FOUR BRIEFCASES (out of four)
